14 injured in carbon monoxide poisoning
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Blood tests of a construction worker who collapsed Wednesday outside a building owned by Yale University led emergency crews to uncover potentially lethal levels of carbon monoxide inside. Another 13 people were hospitalized, but the discovery may have prevented a much larger catastrophe, officials said.
Emergency crews initially thought they were responding to a “regular medical call” early Wednesday when they brought the collapsed unconscious man to the hospital, said Rick Fontana, New Haven’s emergency operations director. However, an hour-and-a-half later, the hospital informed them that the worker had extremely high levels of carbon monoxide in his bloodstream.
Crews then returned to the location and found 13 people at the building with elevated carbon monoxide levels and complaining of headaches. It was later determined that the construction workers had been using a propane-fueled saw to cut concrete. Even though they were venting it, Fontana said the fumes were not exiting the building.
Of the 14 people who were hospitalized, nine were construction workers and five were members of the Yale Security Department, which is located in the same facility, said a spokesperson for Mayor Justin Elicker.
The man found lying outside of the building was taken to Jacobi Medical Center’s hyperbaric chamber in the New York City, where he was in critical condition, Fontana said. He said another worker was also in “pretty serious condition” but was uncertain where he was taken.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the incident. A Yale spokesperson didn’t immediately reply to a message seeking comment.